The Forbes Family Group wants to give everyone a leg-up

Times

09-05-2025

'I have such impostor syndrome sitting at those tables,' Danielle Forbes says, putting a hand to her chest. 'The other day we were leaving Soho House after an event and I saw [the comedian] Judi Love. I couldn't believe she was there. I'm such a massive fan. And then she said, 'Oh my God, it's Danielle from FFG!', and I couldn't believe she knew who I was. I nearly passed out.'
You might not know who Danielle Forbes is, but plenty of others do. The joint chief executive of the Forbes Family Group (FFG) is perhaps better known as the wife of Dean Forbes, a multimillionaire recently named the most influential black person in the UK, knocking the former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful off the top of the Powerlist 2025.
'I feel that a lot. I think, how do you know me?' she says. 'But it's those rooms we are creating, it's becoming so much bigger, and people are watching and wanting to be in those rooms.'
Those rooms are the events that Danielle creates with her co-chief executive, Davina Forbes-Williamson, Dean's cousin. Danielle, who is softly spoken, perhaps a bit shy, is behind FFG's charitable giving — more than £1.7 million since 2020 — while Davina, the co-founder of a talent search agency, is eloquent and punchy, an obvious businesswoman to spear their networking events. Together, FFG covers donations, business events for underrepresented communities and glitzy fundraising galas with Idris Elba and Rio Ferdinand as guests.
FFG was sparked by lockdown. 'We were queueing up to get necessities and we thought how difficult this must be for single mums, for those without much money,' Danielle says. Dean had worked his way out of poverty, making his fortune in private equity. They were doing very well, so decided they wanted to give back. 'Growing up in single-parent households,' she continues, 'that was something that was dear to our hearts.' Dean was raised on a housing estate in Catford, southeast London, caring for his siblings and mother, who has muscular dystrophy, while Danielle's mother was also on her own, looking after three daughters on a council estate in Battersea. 'We didn't have much money. I felt I didn't have what other kids have.'
That's very much not the case for their three children. Danielle met Dean when they were 18, when he was trying (and failing) to make a career as a footballer. Danielle owned her own flat and car, and had a job as an executive assistant. 'I didn't mind, but he felt insecure about it. But it worked. We fell in love very young and we didn't have very much, which is why it's so important to give back now that we can.'
Giving back tends to focus on personal causes such as raising awareness around leukaemia, which one of their twin daughters was diagnosed with when she was two. 'It was a horrible time: she was in hospital for a year, and had chemo and many blood transfusions.' The experience showed Danielle that there is a particular lack of awareness around blood donations among the Afro-Caribbean community. 'We donated to the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust for years, but starting FFG was a game-changer.' Last year's FFG gala raised £435,000 for it in one night. Other charities they support include Power the Fight, a community programme to end youth violence (a particular problem where Dean grew up), and Mentivity, which provides mentoring and holiday clubs for underprivileged children.
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Davina is passionate about the business side of things; she has acted as an unofficial career coach to Dean over the years. 'When football wasn't working out I told him to get a job,' she says cheerfully. She now focuses on FFG's investment and connection programmes, aimed at underrepresented entrepreneurs, mostly people of colour. 'It's about socioeconomic disparity and lack of access,' she says. 'We'd spent years acting as mentors to family friends needing advice. We wanted to do that for more people and provide wider access to our networks.'
They started organising Radar events, inviting prominent people such as the technology millionaire Duane Jackson and the software chief executive Elona Mortimer-Zhika to speak on stage and then network with the audience for two hours afterwards. They have also launched a pitching programme, where applicants are guided by industry bigwigs and the winners are awarded £45,000 investment between them for their fledgling businesses — a sort of kinder version of The Apprentice. Really it's about connecting people, facilitating the kind of advice and mentorship that's usually the reserve of the privileged.
'We know the value of having people around who can support you, inspire you, give you a kick up the bum,' Davina says. 'At the core we are family, and we know how much that support means.'
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